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TP25b Architecture Along the Charles River: A Boat Tour HSW
05/14/2008, 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM


Learning Units: 3.00-Boat Tour
Training Units: 0.75-Training Area 17 (Planning)

Departing from Cambridge at the fountain adjacent to the Cambridgeside Galleria, we travel upstream along the Head of Charles race course. This tour will be led by architects from various local firms. The first section of this cruise will provide striking views of Massachusetts General Hospital, Beacon Hill, the Esplanade, and Back Bay, creating an opportunity to consider how much of this part of Boston was created from landfill. Your architect guide will point out design elements of various campuses that line the river: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, and Harvard University. We will see Genzyme's first building on the Boston side of the river and at the edge of Harvard's planned expansion in Allston.

We will be joined also by Bob Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), who will describe "Building Blue," a new initiative that incorporates sustainable water features into design planning. The CRWA is working on six sites including Harvard's new campus to save clients money, restore the water table and filter pollution from storm water, anticipating the next wave of sustainable design.

The Boston skyline will be the dramatic view on our return, including beloved icons like Kenmore Square's Citgo sign and new additions like the Millenium Towers and Liberty Hotel. We will discover how the Charles River Basin was engineered and lined with some of the area's most beautiful parks during the 19th century. At journey's end, tour participants will have the option to return to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, visit Boston's Science Museum, or shop at the mall on their own. TP26a and TP26c includes a box lunch.

Learning Objectives:
  • Contrast and compare institutional presence along a public waterfront created through architecture and design for Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Boston University
  • Review the creation of the Charles River Basin, the West End, and the Back Bay through major public works of their day: landfill, park design, and introduction of parkways for cars
  • Analyze the impact of various high-rise developments on the Boston skyline: the original John Hancock Tower, the Prudential Center, I. M. Pei's John Hancock Tower, the Millenium Towers, and more
TP25b Wednesday, 1-4:30 p.m., $70

Core Discipline: Design